New veterinarian, multiple appointments on Madison County Board’s agenda

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1:35 pm CDT, Monday, June 19, 2017

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New veterinarian, multiple appointments on Madison County Board’s agenda

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EDWARDSVILLE — A new Animal Control department head and a new member of the Emergency Telephone System Board are expected to be appointed at Wednesday’s Madison County Board meeting.

According to a copy of the board’s agenda, Dr. Ryan Jacob is expected to be appointed as head of Animal Control. He replaces Edwardsville-based veterinarian Dr. Michael Firsching, who had been named director of animal control in December, but submitted his resignation in May, citing his practice’s workload.

Jacob has been on the staff at Horseshoe Animal Hospital since 2014. Prior to that he was at Banfield Animal Hospital in Glen Carbon. He is a 2008 graduate of St. George’s University in Grenada.

“I met with Dr. Jacob last week,” said Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler Monday. “One of our primary goals is to make the county ‘no kill’ with respect to the Animal Control department. Dr. Jacob has agreed to help us achieve that goal.”

Scott Prange, of Highland, is also expected to be appointed to the ETSB, replacing long-time member and Highland Police Chief Terry Bell.

According to information provided by Prenzler, Prange is vice president of the State Bank of St. Jacob, and a graduate of SIUE with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA. He is also a long-time member of the St. Jacob Volunteer Fire Department. He has been a member of the department since 1995, and served 10 years as chief.

Prenzler said he held off on making the decision about Prange until after Friday’s special ETSB meeting, where the board unanimously approved cutting the number of 911 call centers, called Public Service Answering Points, to eight from 16.

Prenzler said that before the meeting he received a number of calls and emails, almost all in favor of the eight-PSAP plan.

“I think that one of the things I sensed from the meeting, the law enforcement presence there was a little frustrated that this wasn’t finished,” Prenzler said.

The county was granted a one-year extension on submitting a plan for the consolidation. A status report must be made to the state at the end of June, and the plan submitted by the end of July. The county would then have a year to implement the plan.

This will be the third ETSB member Prenzler has appointed. Others are Madison County Board Member Don Moore, and Madison County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Marc McLemore.

Newly-elected Wood River Mayor Cheryl Maguire is also expected to be appointed to the Southwestern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission’s board, replacing Granite City Mayor Ed Hagnauer, who had recently resigned from the board.

The board is also expected to consider a resolution eliminating health care coverage for part-time non-union workers. Under the proposal, current workers now covered would be grandfathered in. Union workers are covered under contract.

Also on the agenda is consideration of a $5,500 request by the Madison County Health Department for a six-month pop-up ad on Grindr, a social network app site that primarily serves gay men. The ad purchase is part of a larger grant aimed at promoting HIV awareness and testing.

The issue was tabled by the Finance Committee because of concerns about both the controversial nature of the ad and whether the money could be better-spent locally.